Conference play shifts to the road for Grand Canyon


Grand Canyon Lopes (4-5, 1-0 WAC)	vs.	CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (3-6, 1-1 WAC)	San José State Spartans (2-7-1, 0-1-1 WAC)
		Fri, Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. MST	Sun, Oct. 8 at 3 p.m. MST
GCU Match Notes Media Guide		~~Game Notes~~ Live Stats Live Video	~~Game Notes~~ Live Stats Live Video

The Grand Canyon men's soccer team takes to the road for the first time during conference play, heading to California for a pair of matches. The weekend begins with a Friday match at CSU Bakersfield before heading to San José State for a Sunday afternoon match. Both games will be available on the WAC Digital Network.

With a four-game homestand in the rearview mirror, the Lopes are playing on the road for the first time in 26 days.

Grand Canyon opened conference play in style, defeating Houston Baptist 5-2 in the WAC opener on Sunday. The Lopes scored three goals in the first half and didn't look back. Musa Morris Demos was the offensive standout, scoring two goals and adding an assist. Charlie Keating, Niki Jackson and Marco Afonso were also in the scoring column for GCU.

In its largest win of the season, GCU set a couple of Division I program records. The 31-shot effort set a program best, topping 30 shots against Stetson on Oct. 8, 2013. It was also the first time that the Lopes have scored five or more goals in two matches in the same season.

The Lopes have proved they aren't afraid to take shots. The Lopes rank 10th nationally at 15.89 shots per match. By contrast, CSU Bakersfield and San José State rank 10th and 11th in the WAC in shots per game.

The freshman trio of Josh Drack, Musa Morris Demos and Marco Afonso has made its mark offensively for the Lopes. In last Sunday's win, Morris Demos netted his second and third goals of the season while also adding an assist. Afonso scored the first goal of his collegiate career. Drack added an assist on a Niki Jackson goal. The trio has combined for 17 points this season.

Friday's match with CSU Bakersfield features a matchup of a pair of programs that have NCAA Division II National Championships to their credit. The Roadrunners will honor the 20-year anniversary of their championship team on Friday night. By coincidence, Simon Tobin, now San José State's coach, is the one who led CSUB to the title.

The 'Runners ended a five-game losing streak with a surprising 1-0 win to open WAC play over Utah Valley, the reigning WAC Regular Season Champions. Jamie Carey-Morrell scored a 46th-minute penalty kick to give CSUB the lead over Utah Valley. All three CSUB victories have been of the shutout variety.

GCU picked up its first Division I against CSU Bakersfield last year, defeating the Roadrunners 2-1 in Phoenix. Niki Jackson and Alex Halis each scored a goal.

Shifting to Sunday, the Lopes take on San José State who is 2-7-1 on the year. The Spartans opened WAC play with a tie (1-1 vs. Utah Valley) and a loss (1-0 vs. Seattle U).

The Spartans have allowed more goals than any other WAC team (20), however, they feature Jeremy Romero who ranks third in the conference with 12 points on the season.

Grand Canyon played to a 1-1 draw with the Spartans in Phoenix last year. The first WAC game of the year saw two goals scored in the final 15 minutes, including an SJSU equalizer in the 82nd.

For more GCU men's soccer news, notes and numbers, click here to view this week's match notes and click here to view the media guide.

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Players Mentioned

Marco Afonso

Josh Drack

Niki Jackson

Charlie Keating

Musa Morris Demos

Grand Canyon University Athletics